For Power
by MmeMaxime
Summary: An exploration of the deterioration of the Lestrange-marriage and Bellatrix' growing infatuation with certain dark powers...
1. Chapter 1

_**AN:** Basically, you will find three dialogue-based oneshots in a loosely connected order, exploring the deterioration of the Lestrange-marriage and Bellatrix' growing infatuation with the Dark Lord and his powers._

**Chapter 1**

When Bellatrix Black married Rodolphus Lestrange, she did it for power. Only with a husband could she get away from her parents and all their rules. She chose her husband carefully, and when she settled for Rodolphus, she did so because he appeared less likely to object to her disobedience than her other suitors. Their marriage went well, at first, and she was happy with her choice. Then, she met the Dark Lord. He was unlike any man she would ever have considered liking. He was bossy, angry, and cruel, and he didn't tolerate any disobedience. Yet, he was also more powerful than any other man she had ever met. She could feel his power, his magic whenever she was in his presence. He was magnificent, even fascinating when he convinced her to join his Death Eaters. She did so willingly, forsaking all the freedom she had so desperately fought for without a second thought.

He made her do things she had never dreamed of doing, he taught her to use her magic to its fullest, he gave her power. In return, he demanded complete and utter obedience. Bellatrix knew she would never behave for any other man the way she did for him.

Whenever Rodolphus asked her to do something, she got angry and sent him away. When the Dark Lord gave her an order, she obeyed with a smile. One day, he asked her to recruit her husband. She fulfilled even this task.

Sadly, she had to realize her husband didn't share her admiration of their master. He hated obeying another man; he hated the things he had to do. And Bellatrix felt he started to hate her, too, for talking him into the situation, for giving him grounds to suspect her.

Her red painted fingernails scratched lightly across his cheek, as he finally returned home from his errand and climbed into bed next to her.

"Welcome home, my warrior" she almost purred.

"Stop that. I'm tired…" he groaned.

"Too tired for me?"

"Yes"

"You have never been too tired for me in the past…" she pouted slightly, invisible in the darkness of their bedroom.

"Well I am now. I've had a rough fight today – a fight I got into because you begged me to, if you need remembering."

"So now how about I want to thank you?"

"Don't"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not doing it for you – not only for you, anyways…"

Her finger hesitated for a moment. "You're doing it for your family?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"It doesn't matter. You got what you wished for. Now let me sleep."

Her hand moved downwards. "You don't desire me tonight?"

"No."

"So you despise me for what I asked of you? Is that it? You won't touch me because you are disgusted by me?" her voice hardened.

"That's nonsense, and you know it!"

"Why, then?"

"Because!"

"What is your problem? I have been trying to be nice to you all evening!" Her silken voice lost the rest of its softness very suddenly.

"Maybe I don't want you to be nice."

"Every man wants his wife to be nice."

"I'm not every man. If I had wanted a docile wife, I would have married your sister."

"But you are stuck with me, it seems."

"I chose you. Now let me sleep." His voice softened reassuringly.

"Why did you choose me, if you don't care for me now?"

"Oh, I do care. Believe me." He laughed bitterly.

"Then why?"

"Because, Bellatrix! Because I killed a man today! And I don't think that's something worth celebrating. It is an evil thing to do, condemning a man to hell. I don't want to spoil you with this hatred I feel. I don't want you to thank me for being cruel. It's not something someone should be proud of."

"I am proud of you."

"You shouldn't be."

"Well I am. And the Dark Lord is, too. He trusts you now."

"Oh great. So my life has been reduced to this. Hoping another man will trust me, will keep me alive another day so he can order me to murder some more people. Why do you not find that disturbing?"

"Because he is not just any man. And the cause is worth it."

"I can't believe it. I am lying in bed with my wife and she is admiring another man… Have you no shame, Bellatrix?"

"What? I only said-…"

"I know what you said. But I also know what you didn't say, what you didn't dare say – or what he forbade you to say. I know what the two of you are doing during those 'practice lessons' of yours…"

"Don't be ridiculous. Why should he ever-…? Why would I betray you?"

"For power."


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN:** My personal favorite. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 2**

What Rodolphus had feared and suspected for quite a while eventually became reality; his wife betrayed him with their master. The worst thing for Rodolphus was not the betrayal, the hurt and embarrassment. It was his own inability to stop it. Being too weak to interfere with their master made him angrier by the day – slowly, in his bitterness, he dared more and more frequently to challenge his wife. She, however, ignored his pleas and his anger and his threats, living in a feeling of bliss she had never before experienced.

"Tell me, Bellatrix, do you care for me?"

"That is a strange question to ask of a servant, my lord."

"Answer me. Do you care for me?

She felt it was a trap. She hesitated, searching for the answer he wanted to hear. "Well, of course I care, like all your followers care for you and your cause." She answered carefully.

"But they admire my courage and my principles. That is not the same look I see in your eyes. You feel something different, do you not?"

"I-… my lord, I fear I do not know what you mean."

"Yes you do" he stepped closer, their faces only inches apart. "I can see it in your eyes right now. This hope, this fear… Don't lie to me, Bella. Tell me." He almost smiled, promising, coaxing. She felt her heart fluttering, wanting to believe him.

"Don't be afraid, my Bella. I can feel your yearning for truth. Give in to your instincts, tell me what you feel." His ice-cold eyes bored themselves into hers, she could feel the closeness of their bodies, and she knew her eyes betrayed her even as her mind struggled for cover.

"Please, my lord, please don't make me say it."

"But I do so want to hear it."

"No, please. I know I shouldn't, I apologize a thousand times. Please, my lord."

"Say it!" his voice was harsh now.

"I-… I-… I fancy you" she finally whispered, her face glowing crimson.

"So it is only fancy, you say? Do you take me for a fool, Bellatrix?" he sneered.

"I'm sorry… I… I believe I'm in love with you, my lord."

"In love with me…" he trailed of, as if savoring the sound of his words. "Why do you feel that way, Bellatrix? There is nothing lovable inside me. I am a horrible person, as many people would be happy to confirm to you. You cannot truly love me. Your mind is playing tricks on you, I believe…"

She swallowed, fighting the urge to correct him, to assure him of her love. It would have been the gravest mistake she could ever have made.

"You know I will never return your feelings, don't you, my Bella?" the Dark Lord whispered maliciously, stepping even closer. "I cannot love, and I do not wish to be loved."

Bellatrix' eyes were glued to the floor in embarrassment. She had always known he would not love her, she had known he would not like to know about her feelings. Yet, she wondered when he would punish her. She wondered why he was so calm.

"You know I will never return your feelings, and yet you believe you love me. Why would you do that to yourself? Why would you think to feel something when it is so clearly hopeless? Do you want to get hurt, Bellatrix, is that it?"

He didn't wait for a response as he took a lock of her hair and played with it softly, saying: "It is strange, don't you think? That the human mind is capable of such cruel deeds if in need of self-preservation…"

He pushed the lock behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek. "I take you into my bed for a few times and you imagine you have feelings for me."

He let his finger trail across her lips, painting their outline. "You were afraid of what people might think of you if they found out you were the Dark Lord's mistress. You couldn't face yourself after sleeping with a man to gain influence, having been seduced by his powers. So you denied the truth of it. You created this fantasy of love and romance so you could live with what you did. You didn't want to be a whore, so you decided to love the man who forced you into this, instead."

His crimson eyes bored themselves into her black ones, forcing her mind open. "It is very interesting, this doing of your mind. But don't fool yourself, Bellatrix. Your so-called _feelings_ are only imaginary. You made them up to feel better about yourself. You don't love me. You never will. You only need the excuse so you don't feel cheap."

Bellatrix felt a single tear rolling down her cheek as she was forced to look up to her master.

"But make no mistakes, my Bella. I know exactly what you are, and why you bed me. No one else needs to know, you may continue your pretenses if you must, but you and I will always know the truth. You will always be my little whore, no matter what you tell yourself."

Finally, he released his grip on her head and allowed her to look away.

"You may leave now."

She bowed stiffly, fighting tears, and walked away, head held high.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN:** And the last part of the series. Have fun!_

**Chapter 3**

She told herself it could be worse, she told herself he might even be right. Those thoughts made it easier to bear his poorly hidden contempt at her imagined weakness. It was the only thing she could do to continue their masquerade, to pretend everything was well and right and to prevent anyone from knowing how weak her grip on power truly was.

Upon leaving the assembly one night, she felt a hand wrap around her arm. She recognized his touch, and, whirling around, stared furiously at her estranged husband: "What do you want now?"

"I want to know when you plan on returning to our manor and stop hiding here."

"Oh that's none of your business. You know I won't come back to you, so just leave me be and get out of this with some dignity! Leave me now, Rodolphus, and get a life!"

"Watch your tongue, wife! I am still your husband; I can still punish you for your lack of respect!" He answered with barely suppressed anger.

"Oh do try, dear husband" she hissed back, lips curling into a venomous smile. "Let's go ahead and see how my Lord will punish you for it. You know he wouldn't be pleased if you laid hands on me – _again_!"

"You can't hide behind your Master forever, Bellatrix!"

She only smirked at him, her face a perfect mask of contempt.

"We both know that you are only safe as long as you're fucking him. He will be done with you eventually. And then I will be there. Waiting... You will lose your safety as soon as you fail to please him. And that day _will_ come."

"It may come. But I know of many ways to prolong your waiting. And it seems to me I must take care to please him long enough for you to vanish."

"Oh I do not doubt that. But one day even your repertoire will be exhausted. And I will be there."

"Why do you even want to be there, Rodolphus? Why won't you just leave me?!"

"I won't step down from a claim that is rightfully mine."

"_Rightfully yours_?" she laughed bitterly. "I have never been yours, never truly. I have always been his and your failure to see that only makes you weak. I don't fear the day I have to face you, _husband_. Because I will be stronger than you, I will defeat you in battle as I have always defeated you. I am more powerful than you are. And you know it."

"I don't think you will be as strong as you believe… But we will see when the day comes."

"If it comes." Her mask sat tightly in place.

"Oh it will come. Don't fool yourself. He is not who you want him to be. He would kill you just as quickly as anyone else if he saw any benefit in it. You don't mean anything to him; he is just using you in more ways than his other Death Eaters. And when he grows bored of you he will let you fall. And you will fall further than any of us, without any power of your own."

She could ignore her husband's threats for many years. One night, however, when the Dark Lord didn't return from his trip, and when their Dark Mark mysteriously disappeared from their arms, she knew the day had come for her fall down. The fear of this fall, the unbearable pain of loss she felt for the Dark Lord, led her to lead the hunt for Aurors; led her to torture a couple into insanity in her last, desperate attempt to escape her fall.

_Let me know what you think! ;)_


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